Payback
by The Genius Mage
Summary: In which Chie has what she promises is a wonderful surprise, and Yosuke is forever doubtful. YosukexChie, if you squint.


~*Payback*~

_Not _quite _what he had been expecting._

~*X*~

Yosuke wasn't quite sure what to make of what he just heard. His brows were pulled down sharply and a fierce grimace was plastered upon his face, making his suspicion very clear.

"What do you mean, there's a 'surprise' for me?"

"_Exactly what it sounds like! Sheesh, Yosuke, why do you sound so _worried_? Just come to the parking lot, all right? I promise you'll love it!"_

"I don't know, there's been a lot of times you or one of the other girls promised something and it turned out to be _absolutely horrible_. Don't you remember the camping trip? Or that little _incident _at the Amagi Inn?"

He tried very hard not to focus on the memories just _saying _those names brought up, idly restocking a shelf full of cheese crackerss. His shift would be over in just a few minutes, so he could probably walk out right now without any trouble.

Still. He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Chie and surprises _never _went well together.

"_Why do you have to go and get stuck on the past like that?" _She blew a deep sigh which caused a roar of static. _"I mean, it was _forever _ago anyway, and—look, will you _please _just come out? I'm serious here, Yosuke!"_

After another moment of debate, Yosuke showed a resigned smile and said, "All right, all right, fine. I'll be down in a few minutes. This better not be a trick or something!"

"_Great, I can't wait! And I_ swear_ it's not a trick!"_

With that, she hung up. Yosuke was perplexed by how happy she sounded but he supposed he'd find out the reason soon enough. Heading to the other side of the grocery department, he called, "Yo, Ted! Shift's over so let's head on out."

Teddie had been stacking can upon can, intent on making a rather precarious tower of assorted vegetables stand taller than _he_ was. He perked up immediately at that, fuzzy ears twitching, skipping forward. "Finally! I've been working my fur off, I'll have you know! It took me forever to build this castle! _Forever_!"

Yosuke surveyed what he realized was actually an entire can monument, complete with spires and even what appeared to be a swimming pool filled with water bottles. He let out a low whistle despite himself. "I've gotta admit, that's pretty impressive. Wait—you haven't been doing this all afternoon, have you? I _told _you to restock the meat section!"

"How rude! I'll have you know that I finished that task _early_, and decided to devote the rest of my time to creating an attraction for the shoppers! I can't _believe_ that you think I'd honestly slack off." Teddie drew himself up to his full height and frowned deeply, nostril's flaring.

Yosuke was unimpressed. "Well that's good, I guess. C'mon, let's go."

It wasn't long before they were riding the elevator back to the first floor. Yosuke thought that if he had to listen to just _one single note _from the Junes jingle again, he'd lose his mind. Out through the sliding glass doors they went, with Yosuke barely setting a foot beyond the entryway before he felt someone grab him and haul him off.

"Whoa—what the—_Chie _what are you doing?!"

"C'mon, c'mon, this way!"

Teddie looked startled, chasing after them. "Yosuke! Did you upset Chie-chan again?"

"I didn't even _do _any—"

Before he could finish, Yosuke's jaw dropped as he was finally released, set down after being dragged around the corner of the store. Sitting right in front of him, gleaming brilliantly in the spring sunlight, was a bright orange motorcycle. It was so sleek and stylish that he could hardly believe his eyes.

"W-Wait…I…" The words died in his throat.

Chie went over to stand in front of it, hands on her hips, smiling with a sheepish edge. "W-Well, um…ta-dah! You know how about a year or so ago, Yukiko and I charged the bill for Teddie's clothing to your account? Well, I've been feeling pretty bad about it, so…"

Yosuke blinked. And then blinked again. "You don't _seriously _mean…"

"Yep! This is your surprise!" She showed him a big grin, placing a key with a pendant attached into his hand. He was so numb to it all that she had to curl his fingers around it. "I've been working _forever _to get this thing all paid off for you, but I can't take all the credit." Rubbing the back of her neck, she laughed. "Everyone pitched in, even Yu-kun! All I really did was get the ball rolling."

"E-_Everyone_?"

Teddie's eyes glinted mischievously. "That's right! I've known about this since _forever_! Labby-chan and Marie-chan were a bit late, but they helped too!"

"_Labrys_—" Yosuke choked out. Marie was shocking enough, let alone the Anti-Shadow Weapon. How had they all done this without him hearing a single word?

Chie looked embarrassed. "But…since it was _my_ idea, everyone said I should be the one to surprise you. So…"

"You put the most into the fund! It's only fair!" Teddie chimed.

Yosuke stared for a long time at Chie, who was scuffing one sneakered foot on the ground. He pressed his hands into his eyes without warning, turning his back.

"Oh jeez—Yosuke, are you _crying_?"

"I…I can't believe this…You guys really…" He had always said he wanted a motorcycle, but he had never _dreamed_…

From Chie, too? Of all people? Their relationship had always been a light one filled with bickering and he thought he had understood that. However this was a big step away from what he had expected, and he was at a loss.

"Oh, um…Read the tag, all right?" Chie continued, uncharacteristically nervous.

"Huh?" He sniffed; feeling like his face was on fire, scrambling to make sense of what she was saying. Elation was clouding his thoughts, along with wonder.

"The keychain, the keychain!" Teddie shouted impatiently.

Yosuke did as he was told, pulling at the plastic pendant connected to the black and silver key. It was a very simple affair, a piece of embroidered paper protected by its clear casing.

_To Yosuke: _

_We couldn't have done anything without you!_

On the opposite side, he found the signatures of everyone—Yu, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, Naoto, Marie, Labrys, even the Shadow Operatives. Looking as if it had been added last minute, he saw the cute little signature of Nanako in pink ink. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had _somehow _donated like a hundred yen or something, though possibly she had just signed it.

Yosuke couldn't help it, at the moment he just plain started crying into his hands.

Chie sounded as if she was choking up, and he felt her swatting at him. "Y-You…You _idiot_, why are you crying? You're going to make _me _cry…"

"I'm _already _crying!" Teddie said, great big tears leaking from the eyes of his suit.

Yosuke, after a short while, pulled them both into a hug, one for each arm. He smiled through the lingering tears, laughing. "I don't even know what to say," he admitted. He was honestly, truly, speechless. He owed them all a huge debt of gratitude, that was for sure. The big introspection on that could and would come later however, because-

Chie punched his shoulder affectionately. "What makes you think you have to say anything? If you want to thank us, just get on it!"

Eagerly snatching the helmet attached to the side, he faced Chie again with an enormous grin. "Hey Chie, you want to be the first on the Hanamura Express?"

"Hanamura Express? I don't know, that sounds _dangerous_…" However, there was a giggle embedded in her voice, and in the end she walked over.

"Oh, oh, me next then!"

"Okay sure, but you've gotta get out of that suit first. It'd be a hazard riding around with you trying to balance in that thing." The _mopeds _were potentially dangerous, let alone a motorcycle. Thank God he had passed the test for the license earlier. Yosuke slipped the helmet on, smiling so widely it hurt.

Chie wrapped her arms around his waist as they sat down, and Yosuke felt a bit flustered by that; but his excitement overrode it.

With a mighty rev of the engine, he took off around the block, heart soaring higher than the pitch of Chie's laughter.

* * *

_Author's Note: Once more I ask you not to look at this for too much deep plot, it's just a lighthearted friendship scene I've had in my head for a while now! Apologies if I made an error someplace since I have not actually played Persona 4 Golden. Possibly, I may make a whole one-shot collection of cheerful little stories to help fight my writer's block. _

_Edit: It was kindly pointed out to me I forgot Rise's name amongst the signatures and I have amended it! *facepalm*_


End file.
